The Iranian incident and the “Filipino Monkey”
This incident in the Strait of Hormuz just keeps getting weirder. The Navy Times has a fresh story out this afternoon on the existence of a mythical radio troll that has been hecking ship drivers in the Middle East (hat tip – reader Dan):
The threatening radio transmission heard at the end of a video showing harassing maneuvers by Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz may have come from a locally famous heckler known among ship drivers as the “Filipino Monkey.”
Since the Jan. 6 incident was announced to the public a day later, the U.S. Navy has said it’s unclear where the voice came from. In the videotape released by the Pentagon on Jan. 8, the screen goes black at the very end and the voice can be heard, distancing it from the scenes on the water.
“We don’t know for sure where they came from,” said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, spokeswoman for 5th Fleet in Bahrain. “It could have been a shore station.”
While the threat — “I am coming to you. You will explode in a few minutes” — was picked up during the incident, further jacking up the tension, there’s no proof yet of its origin. And several Navy officials have said it’s difficult to figure out who’s talking.
“Based on my experience operating in that part of the world, where there is a lot of maritime activity, trying to discern [who is speaking on the radio channel] is very hard to do,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead told Navy Times during a brief telephone interview today.
Apparently, radio trolls have plagued ships for years:
In recent years, American ships operating in the Middle East have had to contend with a mysterious but profane voice known as the “Filipino Monkey,” likely more than one person, who listens in on ship-to-ship radio traffic and then jumps on the net shouting insults and jabbering vile epithets.
Navy women — a helicopter pilot hailing a tanker, for example — who are overheard on the radio are said to suffer particularly degrading treatment.
Several Navy ship drivers interviewed by Navy Times are raising the possibility that the Monkey, or an imitator, was indeed featured in that video.
Rick Hoffman, a retired captain who commanded the cruiser Hue City and spent many of his 17 years at sea in the Gulf was subject to the renegade radio talker repeatedly, often without pause during the so-called “Tanker Wars” of the late 1980s.
“For 25 years there’s been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats,” he said. “He could be tied up pierside somewhere or he could be on the bridge of a merchant ship.” And the Monkey has stamina. “He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy,” he said. “But who knows how many Filipino Monkeys there are? Could it have been a spurious transmission? Absolutely.”
Furthermore, Hoffman said radio signals have a way of traveeling long distances in that area. “Under certain weather conditions I could hear Bahrain from the Strait of Hormuz.”
Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, could not say if the voice belonged to the heckler. “It’s an international circuit and we’ve said all along there were other ships and shore stations in the area,” he said.
Wherever the voices came from, the Iranian gunboats that descended on our ships were unmistakable. Admiral Fallon spoke out today:
The top U.S. military commander in the Mideast said Friday that Iran runs the risk of triggering an unintended conflict if its boats continue to harass U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.
Adm. William J. Fallon, chief of U.S. Central Command, said a threatening radio call heard during an encounter Sunday between U.S. Navy ships and Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz was likely connected to Iran’s provocative actions. He said the exact origin of the message was still unknown.
“This kind of behavior, if it happens in the future, is the kind of event that could precipitate a mistake,” Fallon told The Associated Press. “If the boats come closer, at what point does the captain think it is a direct threat to the ship and has to do something to stop it?”
Iran has tried to downplay the encounter as a normal occurrence, but U.S. officials have said that five Revolutionary Guards boats charged three U.S. Navy ships in a threatening manner, dropping boxes in the water in an apparent attempt to intimidate the Americans. The confrontation occurred just days before President Bush was scheduled to begin his first major Mideast trip.
The Pentagon has released a video showing small Iranian boats swarming around U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz. In the recording, a man threatens in accented English, “I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes.”
Fallon said Friday that the U.S. was still trying to determine the source of the threatening radio call but remained convinced that it was related to the actions of the Iranian boats.
“The voice is very strange. I don’t know whether it came from the boats or one of the shore stations,” he said in a telephone interview from Central Command headquarters in Florida. “But the timing of it is pretty suspicious. In my mind it is related to the maneuvers.”
What’s going on? Robert Fox smells Iranian politics:
The buzzing of US Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz by Revolutionary Guard patrol boats earlier this week may well have been an Iranian electioneering stunt.
While all eyes are on the US presidential election, the Iranian Islamic Republic is gearing up for its seventh election for the assembly on March 14 and it is shaping into a referendum on the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He and his radicals appear to be losing support, both from the voters who carried him to power and from the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Since last month’s National Intelligence Estimate report showed that Iran appears to have halted its crucial nuclear weapons programme, the US has turned down the threats of military strikes against Iran to just about zero. This has deprived Ahmadinejad of his key stratagem – the need to rally the people to confront the threat from the Great Enemy…
***
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Ah, yes, the Filipino Monkey. I know him well.
Lots of funny things happen in the SOH on VHF 16, the least of which is the Filipino Monkey.
Our female OOD’s and bridge watchstanders were, at one point, advised against using VHF 16 to issue queries because the Filipino Monkeys inhabiting the area would record their queries and play them back over VHF 16 accompanied by abusive, sexual commentary.
I never thought about from this perspective. Either way, what they did was dangerous and I recommend that they abstain from doing it again.
A close eye must be kept on this lot.
As a former US Navy Surface Warfare Officer who is quite familiar with defensive posture/ROE while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, our Navy has its hands somewhat tied as far as being proactive to defend assets with force unless an attack is undeniably imminent. However, it is dangerously presumptuous for people in the MSM to second-guess our commanders based on some video/sound clips. While I agree that PC politics have crept as far as our ROE, there are many factors to consider in events such as these, not just what was shown on the clips. I have a feeling, based on experience, that the commanders involved responded as they did because the impact of erroneously assessing/engaging an Iranian threat in today’s global political climate has an impact far beyond the lives/careers of the sailors onboard those warships and they did not feel the threat warranted a response. You can thank many things for this apparent lack of “teeth”, including the lawyers who help determine our ROE and the PC culture we seem to have adopted as a nation, but give those commanders the benefit of the doubt.
Well the best way to determine if the voice is coming from the boats or from shore is to destroy the boats and listen for the voice. No more mystery.
We have ways of determining where the voice is coming from, even on a CG.
I assure you, if these fast movers were a genuine threat to life or equipment, they would have been dispatched.
I know the cheese-eating surrender monkeys are the French, but pray tell what is the genesis of the term “Filipino Monkey”? Sounds like something the L3 crowd would call our hostess.
Wretchard at Belmont Club would know the Philippines and the likely esoteric origins. Story is something he might blog on too.
sure … just like that decisive action saved the USS Cole
Does anyone find it curious that the speedboat runs and the comments of Filipino Monkey occurred at the same time. Logically, Filipino Monkey is Iranian or has specific knowledge of Iranian activities in the Persian Gulf. He is a terrorist insider
Also, why should the US Navy take evasive action? There are international rules of the road regarding right of way. Short of blowing these speedboats out of the water, any Navy ship commander could announce a general quarters drill involving target practice, and pass that on to the speedboats. Also, how about just firing a couple of salutes in the air to “welcome” the Iranians? How about shots across the bow to warn? Finally, what happened to the acoustic flame weapon that was used in the Somali pirate attack on a commercial ship? It really sound like we were unprepared, and that is not good.
I find our response troublesome because nobody really knows what is in the mind of anyone else. This turned out to be an Iranian test, but it could just as easily have been more deadly.
can’t we triangulate?
Spoken like someone who is ignorant of the facts in both situations.
Congratulations.
*snort*
We should have the Electronic Warfare assets to triangulate the location of these broadcasts, especially if we are expecting them.
RoilerFaker:
Do tell the real story -
It was a Jew on a grassy knoll who attacked the USS Cole with a boomerang!
#4
My thoughts exactly. I know that wouldn’t be the diplomatic thing to do though.
The “Filipino Monkey” is any crapweasel who has access to a VHF radio and can tune in Ch 16. It is a way for bored mariners to cause mischief and play on VHF.
In this case, he very well could have been Iranian, but the “Filipino Monkey” is not a distinct individual.
No, can’t be. That is something only the “evil Booosh” would do.
/sarc off.
My take on the incident:
There’s no question Iran was trying to poke the bear and they’ve done stuff like this before. Remember the incident with the British ship that Iran boarded and took the sailors “hostage”? Iran milked that for everything and Great Britian looked like foolish cowards.
Iran has domestic and economic problems in large part because they are fighting a proxy war against us. What better way to drum up support and rally anti-American sentiment than provoking us and our big, bad, war ships into blowing up a couple little speed boats that posed “no real danger”. Oh yeah, I remember the USS Cole and so does the Navy. But we used restraint. I have no doubt those little pricks were seconds from being obliterated but they turned away! Now the United States now has, in the eyes of the world, every right to tell Iran…do it again and you are toast!
In other words, Iran’s little stunt designed to provoke us into military action that would have been used against us….didn’t work and Iran looks foolish.
For those who don’t wear tin-foil hats:
Read this.
#17
Iran looks foolish to clear thinkers, but not to moonbats and nutroots. These people think the US made up the whole incident and that those Iranian boats were just minding their own business.
Up your dosage.
*sigh* We try again…
I vote that the bear eat their faces next time…
This is so weird. And I find it a bit distressing that someone can just tap into Navy radio traffic lines without being trackable. Something about that just doesn’t seem right.
The Filipino Monkey does not have to be a single person. Also, imagine the price of oil today if we had sunk the speedboats. Iran may be willing to sacrifice a few nutjobs just to get some more oil revenue
The voice must of been President Bush, who was probably in the Middle East at that time (sarcasm)
VHF 16 isn’t a Navy channel, it is the international safety channel for open water, bridge-to-bridge communication between vessels. It is monitored 24-7 on all vessels, civilian and military.
With all of the National Intel assets focused on that part of the world, you would think we could easily find and silence any transmitter we wanted to…
Question, PBoilermaker – it’s been a long time since I was in the straits – do they require a pilot for transit? Last time I was there, I was on an oiler, and we were doing a consol coming out of the gulf.
navywife91
Agreed! I’ve seen both versions of the videos. Moonbats and nutroots are irrelevant in the real world and Iran can’t hide. Trust me, I would love to see our Navy turn (in my words) “those little pricks” into scraps for the fish.
My point is after this incident, the US now has earned “permission” you might say to do just that. Iran played its card and lost the hand. Do it again and we kiiiilll you!
The government of Iran declared war on the United States of America on 4 Nov 79 when they stormed our embassy and took our personnel prisoner. Too bad Peanut Brain Carter was at the helm when this occurred or we could have returned the complement with our first declaration of war since WWII. There are really trying to start something with the “Great Satan” over there. Too bad no one in our government’s leadership has the gumballs to end this crap once and for all with a show of American airpower. I figure a 72 hour campaign to include target strikes on their leadership and military would allow the average citizen of Iran an opportunity to overthrow this oppressive regime.
I think I’ll take the advice of someone who’s been there done that like Pboilermaker than I would the New Dork Post
Kill them all and let
AllahGod sort them out!Hey Chief. Pilotage isn’t compulsory while transiting the Strait, only while entering/exiting port.
However, GQ is usually set for the transit (obviously, condition Zebra) and secured at a pre-determined point once the transit is complete.
BT
Got that “Corona”? What was COLE’s material condition of readiness when attacked? What was it required to be given the situation? Don’t worry, I don’t expect an intelligent answer, but you can blame the Jews all you want.
Eventully we may have to sieze the two Tunb and Abu Musa islands and the straits littoral (Sirik, Kuhestak, Bandar-E-Lengeh and Qeshem outside Bandar ‘Abbas) but when we act it will be “At a time and place of our own choosing.”
Excuse me, but who the #*@% is Ralph Peters of the New York Post, and what qualifies him to make these armchair admiral comments from 8,000 miles away? How does he know it was an Iranian officer making those comments on bridge-to-bridge? And what PhD in parapsychology qualifies him to state unequivocally what was going through the minds of all involved?
Sorry, but my 20 years as a Surface Warfare Officer also tells me to let the guys in command command. Even with some amount of video tape, there is still lots of room for interpretation.
Boomer
Take out their one gasoline refinery, block imports of gas, and the country would not be able to function.
J S Ragman Well put, used to drive ships myself, wish I could get back in. I’d drive a desk in some godforsaken hole in West Virginia or a stand CICWO in the middle of nowhere if there are no billets there. Just want to be part of it when we’re at war.
Wow, three SWO’s on one MM thread!
Also note that the accent wasn’t Iranian. Contrast it to the video released from Iran of a stationary speedboat calmly talking with one of the destroyers, and trying to ascertain its current speed and course. Completely different accent.
I think the verbal threat was a hoax by a third party. You can hear the humor in his voice — trying to be super-serious, but also sounding like he could burst out giggling any second. The speedboats’ actions were, of course, reckless and unnecessarily hostile. I’m just glad that no one overreacted and that the situation was resolved peacefully.
It’s a radio broadcast. Anyone can “tap into” an unencrypted radio broadcast. You can listen to the local police band, or local airport bands. And you could broadcast on those channels to cause all sorts of mischief.
I’m humbled – all I ever was was ESWS
PBoilermaker
Ralph Peters bio.
He’s a retired Army O-5. Not an idiot I think but gets enthusiastic and is to used to explaining things to children who can’t give meaningful feedback when he goes over the line.
I don’t think that’s so odd. What’s unusual is that we might actually have some sea stories people would like to hear for a change.
Rusty, put down the microphone and get yourself a girlfriend…
PBoilermaker
Did reserve Intel, Lots of good stories.
Truth in advertising, I’m a no-SWO. Had something to do with me telling the XO the bigot CO could take a flying leap at a rolling donut.
Ah, but you shared the same Surface pain
Well, Friday most places not Firday unless you’re a lumberjack….
The Germans in WWII were real good at finding French underground radio brodcasts.
We can not locate the Monkey in 2008?
I call BS.
Yes, I’ve found that SWO’s do have some pretty good sea stories no matter how long they have been in, especially after 20 years. Just part of the job.
SailorBob stuff is too strong for general consumption, even in light doses.
Good to know you are out there. I don’t think many people on these boards understand what kind of unique pain you have been through, but I salute you.
Who says we can’t? The real question is, what good would it do to locate the Monkey outside of this particular event?
Usually it is some bored first mate on a mid watch or a local on a dhow.
If we really, REALLY want to find the monkey, we can.
Right back at you. And remember, the only way is underway.
Personally I think the Navy should get off the dime, that is Congress should, and cut steel to build 50 Littoral Combat Ships and 25 DDGs As Soon As Possible. They could easily crew them with old guys itching to get back in.
I’m honored to be surrounded by “shoes” even though my husband was prior enlist.AW.
· Matalino man ang matsing, napaglalamangan din.
o An intelligent monkey can still be beaten.
· Damitan mo man ang matsing, matsing pa rin.
o A monkey dressed up is still a monkey.
·Ang langaw na dumapo sa kalabaw, mataas pa sa kalabaw ang pakiramdam.
o A fly that lands on a carabao feels itself superior to the carabao.
Taken from “http:en.wikequote.org.filipino_proverbs
The last one dose not have anything to do with this post, I just thought is was cool.
Filipino Monkey ,, Wow I haven’t thought about that guy since 96 I only heard him a few times on ship to ship and he kept saying that over and over. Creep. I had no Idea that it was still going on.
PBoilermaker it sounds to me like they still pass the Straights like they did when I was in. Such as in G.Q., do they still run full and in line with all guns manned? Because when I read that they ordered the men to the guns I would have assumed they were already there.
Say hello to my not-so-little friends.
What troubles me about all this, is having another “Pueblo Incident”, this time in the gulf. I remember that incident. I’m concerned that, once again, our Navy has its hands tied…ruled by politicians and desk-bound, wannabe admirals. If we don’t have a “Don’t Tread On Me” attitude, I fear it will happen. I know the sailors and the Captain will defend their ships but I wonder what the standing orders are.
I just don’t like the PC tie the hands crap. Blow the Iran speed boats to Allah, and use a 50 on the Monkey whatever little turd world boat he is on.
Oh I so wanted one of the candidates to whack Paul’s stupid comment about those boats supposedly not being a threat to our ships! Does he remember the USS Cole in 2000?
This is bull. I use to find vessels at sea with a simple shipboard radio direction finder. The technology has been around since WWII.
If I had an air asset, or a land based high sight, I could triangulate a vessel’s position within yards.
The Navy had three ships there. Granted there were 5 fast boats, but they were within close proximity of three radio direction finders. Their lines of position would change rapididly, whereas a shore based, or distant broadcast signal would not.
It is beyond the scope of my imagination that any sailor worth his/her salt could not locate the exact vessel the broadcast was coming from, or determine that the broadcast was not coming from any of the 5 vessels, using rudimentary electronic equipment. Taking into account there were three modern warships with the latest electronic warfare packages installed. The idea that they could not identify where the signal generated from is beyond the scope of reality.
That being said, radio monkeys are everywhere. Along our highways on CBs, offshore fishing vessels, even bored military watch standers. They are the attention seeking trolls of yesteryear.
Here in the US, we have laws to regulate such noise, however, the agency assigned to regulate our airways was all but dismantled in the 90s.
Elsewhere in the world, there is little, or no enforcement. However, if you can keep them on the line for a good 10 count, you could always send them a formal greeting rocket. But, then that would be against the law
There’s a whole lot of saber rattling going on!
The Iranians (specifically the IRG) need to have one of our Americanisms explained to them before it is too late … for them …
When you aren’t ready to play with the big dogs you’d best stay on the porch.
1. I’ve seen several posters here harking on the fact that we “can’t” track down the radio transmission. Please read the thread before posting as our friend PBoilermaker has already answered this point.
2. The Raging Republican’s outcry for genecide “Kill them all and let
AllahGod sort them out!” is worthy of the nutroot extremist quote of the day.3. Happy new year all… little late due to a much needed vacation!
Let the “Old Man” make the decision.
There’s not a single skipper in the United States Navy that would let a ski boat full Iranian brown water sailors shoot a boat out from under him! They know what they are doing.
#38 said:
That’s what I love about blogs; there’s always someone who knows way more than the other guy. (Dan Rather learned that in a matter of hours after his infamous 2004 CBS broadcast, didn’t he?)
BrianNY
You do know what a “SWO” is, right?
I’m only asking because I’m still learning some of the abbreviation and acronyms myself, i.e. (DLTDHYONTWO)
I wasn’t an anti-aviator SWO (I love aviation) and even though we were authorized to wear brown shoes, I proudly wore black. Plus, my brother is a Navy pilot, so there’s room for all of us.
Honored to be among people like you as well, regardless of ratings and warfare qualifications
er, Naval Aviator…they are touchy about the whole “we’re not pilots” thing
Many of our friends from back in the day have become pilots now (H-60′s, F-18 superhornets and Apaches). I believe when you’re prior enlisted, you have a much better perspective. My husband was both ESWS as well as EAWS. He spent a lot of time of the ships, so he had time for both.
Just like in other places in the world, the channel 16 frequency is often populated by drunk fishermen, prank callers (the FCC was born partially in reaction to prankers spoofing the Titanic distress calls), nuts, and bored shut-ins without ethics. So no magic direction finding.
I recommend the links over at surface warfare officer CDR Salamander’s place; he’s got plenty of links to other
targetskimmersurface warfare bloggers.During the GOP debates the other night Ron Paul had a dimensia moment and asked what those little boats could possibly do to our big war ships.
Does the phrase USS Cole ring a bell?
It seems to me that the problem with this incident is not that it was done on purpose by the command of genius mullah masterminds but rather perpetrated on a whim by Iranian cowboys who are undisciplined and poorly led. The whole thing smacks of a rash stunt worthy of a gang rather than a government. The danger here is that a cowboy provocation by loosely commanded Iranians will spark a war. It would have been better if somebody was in charge of Iran, did this on purpose, and had the power to control Iranian forces. The problem is that Iran is out of control.
Maybe it’s because of a joke I heard from Walker Cooper whom I grew up across the street from I was sitting on his porch and was telling him I wanted to be a pilot but I did’nt think my eyes were good enough for it. He said ” I was a pilot in the Navy” and I said “you were” He said “Yep I piled it here and piled it there” corny joke but I laughed he was a great guy he and his brother played old school baseball when player’s played because they loved the game not the money, they played for the St. Louis Cardinal’s together.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Walker_Cooper_1915
I did several Med/IO cruises and we were on edge each time we transisted the “ditch”, and at times miss the excitement of pulling into a foreign port. Did my fair share of working parties, covering UNREPS, and etc…
I was “black shoe” but spent all my sea time with the brown shoes. I didn’t care when patients came in whether they were ships company or airwing-Sailors or Marines; they were more importantly “shipmates”
GSP
HM1(AW), USN Ret.
Same here, shipmate! Are you retired as well?
Sorta – I retired in 84 after 22 years. RMC(SW)
#53, josetheguerilla
Your last quote I think sums up the Filipino Monkey quite nicely. Just some bored dude harassing the local shipping traffic. In the big picture he is a fly bothering the calabaw (water-buffalo) but the calabaw knows the effort to track him down is not worth it.
#6 gollumclone
Nothing more esoteric than schoolyard naming going on. Wherever in the world there is maritime activity you will find Filipinos from the shipyards of Door County Wisconsin, to Waterford Ireland and so on. Especially in the Middle East where there are a many Filipinos (mas mura ang pasok nila kasi e!) to begin with.
The USN sailors years ago probably came to refer to the Pinoy dock workers at the ports of call as “Filipino Monkeys” and probably have noted the accent typically associated with the badgering on this channel are usually Filipino.
He (or they) may have named themselves. I remember hearing him (or one of them) transmitting one night in the eastern Mediterranean. During the three hour period he said little more than, “Da monkey, da monkey, da monkey….da monkey, da monkey, da monkey….da monkey, da monkey, da monkey…”
He did sound crazy or drunk.
Of course we can find the source of radio transmissions. The question is, what would you do about it? Report the offenders to the IMO? Hah!